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It is rare to see the tangible results of one’s teaching.
Fleeting experiences like bumping into a former student at a supermarket or a loved one’s graduation may yield a brief exchange of fond memories or a sentimental reference to the impact of one’s class. In my career, there have been few exceptions to this norm, and one of those exceptions is Max Tuchman.
Max is exceptional in every way. This homegrown, public-school-educated, former teacher of Cuban and Jewish descent, has flourished into a successful entrepreneur who has dedicated her career to education. Knowing Max, it came as no surprise to hear that she had decided to run for the Miami-Dade County School Board’s District 7 seat.
The reasoning behind her candidacy for the school board is refreshing and genuine. Max is a public school success story. She knows what works and wants to take a stab at fixing what’s broken.
If I know Max, she is putting every fiber of her being into this race. It is her life’s mission to be a voice, an advocate, and an innovative problem solver for our children. I believe she will bring the common-sense solutions we need to improve public education in Miami-Dade County and avail our students of the opportunity to become the best versions of themselves.
What’s in it for her? It’s not money. Max is the co-founder of Caribu, a thriving EdTech startup that was recently acquired by Mattel. It’s not status. Max has bona fide connections from Silicon Valley to the White House. She attended some of the country’s most prestigious academic institutions and counts their finest academicians as supporters. She also has the backing of successful former classmates, mentors, and teachers, like me.
Max was the first in her family to attend college. Her grandparents were Holocaust survivors who fled to Cuba only to become refugees again in the United States. Her working-class parents sacrificed to live in a school district where she could attend Miami’s best public schools. She earned a Bright Futures Scholarship that afforded her a full ride to New College of Florida and later went on to earn not one, but two graduate degrees from Harvard University.
While her academic and professional careers have taken her all over the country, her plan has always been to gather all the knowledge and experience she could and bring it back to her hometown.
If you ask me what is at the core of her candidacy, it is her unflinching commitment to ensure that all children in Miami-Dade County have the same opportunities she had. Like me, Max was a teacher at one of our toughest schools. She saw herself, her colleagues, and her administrators struggle to address the real needs of students due to crippling bureaucracies, bad policies, and the daily creep of politics in the classroom.
Max’s policies aim to halt government overreach and truly bring parents back into the fold. She wants to empower teachers and help them regain their respected status in our classrooms and our communities. She will help us protect our students both on campus and online. And she has plans to increase investment in our youngest students as well as ensure that we are preparing our graduates for success in the real world.
I have never endorsed a candidate for office, but Max Tuchman isn’t a politician. She is my former student and remains a student of life, a teacher at heart, and a tireless advocate for children. She is a living, breathing example of what happens when public education works, and she will not stop until it does.
Dr. Daniel Medina was South Dade Senior High School Teacher of the Year 2021.
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